Tennessee football: Auburn is reeling, its big goals long gone. Can the Vols take advantage?

Tennessee’s football team is far from a giant killer and it won’t be anytime soon. So if I told you that the Vols could possibly take down a team that had College Football Playoff aspirations, you would have thought I was crazy. It’s actually not outside the realm of possibility.

I’m certainly not calling for the Vols to upset No. 21 Auburn. However, stranger things have happened. Let’s start with the obvious reasons Auburn will beat the Vols on Saturday. Then we’ll get to reasons for UT fans to be optimistic.

First, Auburn is more talented than the Vols. That’s not debatable. Second, Auburn’s coaching staff is much more entrenched and proven than first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt’s coaches. Lastly, the game is at Auburn, which is an incredibly difficult place to play. Las Vegas would agree. The Tigers are a 16.5-point favorite. However, there is reason for hope for the Vols.

After its second loss, Auburn’s national championship hopes are over. It’s practically impossible for the Tigers to even win the SEC West. After Auburn hosts Tennessee, the Tigers still have to play at Ole Miss, host Texas A&M before road trips to play Georgia and Alabama, which has a headlock on the SEC West once again. Even the most optimistic Auburn football players have to realize that any shot at an SEC Championship went up in smoke when the Tigers lost to Mississippi State 23-9 last week. In a far different way, Auburn and Tennessee are both just playing for pride.

Psychology aside, Auburn’s offense isn’t what one would expect from offensive guru Gus Malzahn. The Tigers rank 12th in the SEC in total offense with 364.2 yards per game. Only UT (360) and Arkansas (359.1) are worse.

Known for a being great with quarterbacks, Malzahn has made the much-hyped Jarrett Stidham look incredibly average. The quarterback is ranked 10th in the SEC in quarterback passing efficiency. He has thrown just 2 TD passes in four games against Power 5 competition.

Pick a stat, any stat, and it will show that Stidham isn’t keeping up with the pace he set last season. He’s thrown just 5 TD passes all season. The only three full-time starting SEC QBs who have thrown fewer are the Vols’ Jarrett Guarantano (4), Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald (4) and Kentucky’s Terry Wilson (3).

It’s little wonder that the message boards have fired up again. Fans started a GoFundMe to raise money for Malzahn’s buyout. (Not happening.) The bigger the expectations, the louder the outrage when they aren’t met. It’s all part of the continuing Auburn fans’ love-hate relationship with Malzahn.

Auburn isn’t much better with its other backfield players. The Tigers rank 12th in the SEC in yards rushing per game with 163.8 yards per game. According to former Auburn offensive lineman Cole Cubelic, Auburn’s rushing — or lack thereof — has been historic.

Auburn has gone 3 consecutive games with under 100 yards rushing.

The last Time Auburn went 3 straight games with less than 100 rushing yards as a team was in 1999.

WE actually rushed for fewer than 100 yards as a team in 10 of OUR 11 games that season.

Cubelic, who is a daily talk-show host on WJOX and a sideline reporter for The SEC Network, didn’t mince words when he tweeted about what Auburn is facing.

AUBURN: Serious soul searching needs to happen offensively. It wears on the defense physically, mentally & emotionally. Maybe saw that show up this week. First time < 100yds rushing 3 straight weeks since 1999?? Unacceptable. Will have to fight for a W this week vs Tennessee.

Auburn is self destructing. Evidently most of the players don’t respect Stidham who didn’t seem bothered by either loss. There are also reports of a fractured locker room of different groups and none of them have the same goals. People close to the program are expecting a mass exodus after the season by players looking for a better atmosphere. Also reported is that Gus doesn’t have a clue what is going on in his own locker room. Tennessee does actually have a chance this week because they are playing a team that has given up.

Anything is possible in a college game. We will just have to see. I will say this though, we have everything to gain and not that much to lose as a big underdog. Auburn may be in a lose/lose situation. Win and it’s something everyone expected and doesn’t erase the turmoil much. Lose and that turmoil will ratchet up a few notches.

I agree with that, I don’t think UGA is as good as last season, and while I don’t think Auburn has “given up” I do think if the VOLS come out of the bye week with a reasonable offensive attack, and don’t self destruct with turnovers and penalties, there is a chance. Smallish, but it does happen in College Football.

heard similar rumblings … not a good situation on the Plains right now… but like all families, brothers will fight and bicker. Hopefully this doesn’t become a cancer.

Reality is AU could easily be undefeated right now – in spite of O-line issues and lack of a run game. Multiple missed opportunities to win the LSU game. Against MSU, no excuse not to generate at least 21 points with a chance to win it late. WRs were open but Stidham couldn’t find his ass with a map & compass.

I’m optimistic our players and coaches get it right this Sat. We need a convincing win to spring-board into the 2nd half of the season.

I had to laugh at that “stripe” thing y’all are doing at Jordan Hare – it looks pretty but won’t score one point (like the checkerboard in the stands at Neyland.) Also, having been to J-H, it’s intimidating without any color coordination.

If only, if only the woodpecker sighs, the bark on the tree were as soft as the skies…. I’m so jaded I’m expecting Auburn to somehow make an incredible run starting with a complete destruction of us. I’m going to be all orange and white and cheering, but I don’t expect too much.

That is the best approach, be hopeful but realistic – Pruitt is not gonna turn this ugly pig into a beauty immediately. Any knowledgeable fan knows it;s like turning a cruise ship in the ocean, it doesn’t turn on a dime.

Tennessee players don’t have much option but to keep fighting and scratching for every yard and every play. The fans have no alternative but to believe in miracles. Frankly the only alternative we’ve seen is an endless downward spiral of new all-time historical lows. It has to stop somewhere. Why NOT here?

And frankly, if Guz drops one to Sonny Pruitt and the Vols, then it could end his career on the plainz.

Coming off the bye week, Tennessee should be a team with absolutely nothing to lose. Auburn on the other hand seems to have EVERYTHING at stake.